DISCURSOS - Rotary International

These are the numbers that we use to measure the disaster. But there are no numbers to measure
what happened to so many lives. In a matter of hours, half a million people in one of the
world’s wealthiest and most developed countries lost everything. They went from comfort and
security to an uncertain future in school gyms, tents, and ruined buildings.
All over the world, people sent help. Rotarians contributed to a disaster fund. Individuals and governments
sent teams for search and rescue and helped to meet the needs of survivors.
The entire nation was in shock from the catastrophe. And the warmth we felt from friends around
the world helped us to recover, and move forward.
For the first time in almost 70 years, we were not sending aid. We were receiving it. It was
something we never thought would happen. But it was a reminder to all of us how fragile our
lives really are — and how little separates us from those we help.
In Japan, we are used to earthquakes. We are always preparing for earthquakes and tsunamis.
Our building standards are the highest in the world. We thought we were ready for anything. But
no one ever expected anything like this.
The 東 日 本 大 震 災 , as we call it in Japanese — the Eastern Japan Great Earthquake Disaster —
changed Japan. Japan changed us all. And it changed the way Japanese Rotarians see Rotary.
Because humanitarian service looks very different once you have been on the receiving end.
It is easy to look at the people we help through our Rotary service as somehow different from
ourselves. Often, they live far away. We do not know their language or their culture. We do not
know what it is like to have no running water, no sanitation, no health care, no education. We
look at pictures, we read stories in the news about poverty, wars, and disasters. We see, from so
far away, the people who are living through such terrible times. But it is hard sometimes to put
ourselves in their place. We cannot imagine such things happening to us.
Today, I tell you that they can.
I tell you that there is nothing at all separating us from the people we help. We are all the same.
Only the circumstances surrounding us are different.
Do not think that homelessness or hunger or sickness or poverty is any easier for others to bear
than it would be for you. It is not.
This is why I tell you today that our Rotary service is more important than you can possibly imagine.
If we take the time and the care to do what is needed, not what is easy for us.
If we have the wisdom and the perspective to understand how important our work is.
If we have the vision to support our Rotary Foundation — so that it can be there to support the
people who need us most.
When we serve through Rotary, we share the best part of ourselves. We build connections to other
people, who may seem so different from us. And by doing this, we create a world of greater peace.
There are so many ways to build Peace Through Service. This year, I have seen how Rotary service
brings us all closer together. It allows us to reach out to those in need and to work together
for common goals. It allows us to help meet the great needs of people we may never meet. And
it gives each of us the happiness that comes from helping someone when they need it most.
My friends, I wish you the best in this Rotary year of Peace Through Service. And I wish you all
the success possible as district governors as you Engage Rotary, Change Lives.
Thank you.
58 International Assembly Speeches 2013